On September 11, 2012 an angry mob attacked an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya killing four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stephens. Conservative critics of the Obama administration immediately jumped on the story. They accused then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of failing in her duty to protect these American lives and suggested the administration was covering up the real facts. Fox News alone devoted hundreds of hours to reporting on this so-called ‘scandal.’

A two-year investigation by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee has found that the CIA and the military acted properly in responding to the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and asserted no wrongdoing by Obama administration appointees.

Debunking a series of persistent allegations hinting at dark conspiracies, the investigation of the politically charged incident determined that there was no intelligence failure, no delay in sending a CIA rescue team, no missed opportunity for a military rescue, and no evidence the CIA was covertly shipping arms from Libya to Syria.

It adds that,

Many of its findings echo those of six previous investigations by various congressional committees and a State Department panel.

Mike Thompson, the second-ranking Democrat on the committee is quoted in another news article saying the report “confirms that no one was deliberately misled, no military assets were withheld and no stand-down order (to U.S. forces) was given.”

This, I hope, will finally put to rest the witch-hunting so vigorously conducted by Darrel Issa and others over the last two years and the hysteria whipped up by Fox News. But somehow I doubt it. Many in the conservative base will keep hyperventilating over the issue and ranting about the supposed “scandal” that never was. But from now on, their rants will lack credibility.

It’s time for the leaders of this charade to drop their political grandstanding and accept the real facts.

Edward Clayton grew up in the US but has lived in Canada for the last 4 decades. He is a long time peace activist and committed to issues of social justice and good government. He reports on Canadian, American, and global politics from a Canadian perspective.